Electric controller.



K. M. WALLEY.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.19,1914. RENEWED DEC. 22. 1911.

1 ,267,483 Patented May 28, 1918.

'- r 4 SHEETSSHEET 1. '22 fly K. M. WALLEY.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER.

APPLlCATlON FILED JAN-19.19M- RENEWED DEC. 22.1917.

Patented May28,19l8.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2 OOOOOOGOGGOOOOO K. M. WALLEY.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 19, 19M. RENEWED DEC. 22. 1917.

Patented May 28,1918;

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

K. M. WALLEY.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 19, 1914. RENEWED 050.22.19l1.

06 m4 m 2H as m mm m m P Qkk 3 m m m m y y m m AQQ 1 Q WN 1/ li- (24 wt.-

KENNETH M. WALLEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28, 1918.

Application filed January 19, 1914, Serial No. 812,992. Renewed December 22, 1917. Serial No. 208,527.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KENNETH M. WAL- LEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Controllers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanism for controlling the intensity or the quantity of electric current, and has for its object in general maintaining such intensity or quantity constant or within certain limits.

It frequently. happens in the use of apparatus dependent upon electricity for its operation that changes in the apparatus occur as the operation proceeds which tend to vary the potential drop, or the current flowing through the apparatus, and it is desirable to have means for producing suitable changes in the apparatus so that the normal condition of the current may be maintained; and the object of this invention is to produce such means.

The particular apparatus to which I have in this instance applied the invention is the arc lamp whenever such a lamp is used where a close regulation of the amount of current flowing therethrough is desired, as is the case when are lamps are used for picture projection purposes, search lights, photographic purposes, or the like. And the object of the invention when applied to this particular use is to maintain a constant current flowing through the are. When the carbons by combustion vary in length sufiiciently to vary the current, the mechanism decreases correspondingly the distance between the carbon terminals and the length of the are, so as to still maintain constant the current L flowing therethrough. And when the carbons shorten so that their decreased resistance affects the current through the arc, the arc is allowed to increase slightly in length, increasing its resistance so as to maintain the total resistance of the circuit, and hence the current, constant.

Hence, a particular object of the invention is to produce a mechanism that will be afiected by slight variations in the current flowing through the carbons, without any refe ence directly to the fall of potential therethrough, so as to adjust the arc length and thus to maintain constant the current flowing therethrough.

rent or potential controlling device. Fig. 2

is an elevation of a current controlling device. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical connections of the vibrator and the controller. Fig. 4 is an elevation of an arc lamp adapted to be controlled by the controller. Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged detail sectional views of portions of the arc lamp mechanism along the respective lines 5 and 6 of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is an elevation of another form of vibrator adapted to be used either alone or with the other vibrator. Fig. 8 is a modified form of controller adapted to be used with both vibrators; and Fig. 9is a diagrammatic view of the electrical connections of both vibrators and both controllers, the compound controller being applied in this particular instance to a flaming arc lamp.

The vibrator illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a compound wound electro-magnet 10. This magnet has a series coil 11 composed of a few turns of large wire and a shunt coil 12 composed of many turns of fine wire. The series coil is connected in series with the apparatus that is being operated by the electric current, in this instance the arc lamp 13, while the shunt coil is connected across the terminals of the supply lines 14 through switches 16 and 25 as is indicated in Fig. 3. The two coils in this instance are connected with reference to the supply line 14 so as to tend to assist each other in generating magnetism in the core 15 when the vibrator is in operation. An armature l6 pivoted at 17, to the end plate 18 of the electro-magnet, has one end 19 positioned adjacent to the upper end of core 15. A spring 20 tends to pull the other end of the armature downward and thus to lift the end 19 away from the core until the end comes in contact with a stop 21. When the armature is in this position a resilient conagamst an electric contact 30 When the armaductor 22, which has one end fixed tothe armature, has its other end in contact'with an. electric contact 23. An insulation strip 24 prevents actual contact of the armature 19 with the core 15.

A somewhat similar device is shown on the lower end of theelectro-magnet. An armature 25 has one end adjacent to the lower end of the core 15, and the other end pivoted at 26 to the end plate 27 of the electromagnet. A stop 28 limits the distance the free end of the armature may move, under the influence of gravity, a awfromthe core; and a resilient conducting strip 29, fixed to the free end of the armature 25, is brought ture is raised under the influence of the magnetism of the core 15.

In practice the action of the vibrator is as follows: Referring to Fig. 3 and considering at present merely the vibrator and its electrical connecting wires, it will be seen that when the line switch 31 is closed. and current is flowing through the arc lamp 1 3, coil 11, being in series with the lamp, will receive the full current, will magnetize the core, and the armatures being attracted by the core, contact 30 will be closed, and contact 23 will, be opened so that no current will flow through coil 12. If now, for any reason, the current through the series coil 11 decreases, so that the spring 20 is able to overcome the magnetism of the core 15, the armature end 19 will be raised away from the core until contact 23 is closed. If at the same time the magnetic strength is sufficient to hold armature 25 so as to maintain contact 30 closed, current will flow through coil 12, and this, adding to the magnetic strength of the core will pull downward the armature end 19 and break contact 23. Hence, in such a case, assuming the current through the coil 11 to remain substantially the same, vibratory action of the armature 16 would continue indefinitely, the circuit of coil 12 being alternately opened and closed as is the case with any ordinary vibrator. If contact 30 is maintained closed by screwing inwardly the stop 28, vibratory action of the armature 16 will continue so long as the current flowing through coil 11 is too weak to overcome the tension of the spring 20.

If now a solenoid, or an electro-magnet, capable of operating some mechanism, has its coil connected with contact 23 in its circuit, and is operatively'connected with the mechanism, the mechanism will be operated by the solenoid so long as the vibratory action of the vibrator continues. To produce this result I connect the solenoid 32 in series with the armature 16, and the contact 23, across the supply line 14, so that whenever contact 23 is closed the core 34 of the solenoid 32 will be pulled downend of arm 36 is. raised by wardly, and when the circuit is opened by the opening of the contact 23 a spring 35,

acting on a lever- 36 connected by link 37 to the core, will force the core upward. So that a vibratory movement will be imparted by the solenoid to the end of the lever 36 by the vibratory action of the armature 16. The vibrator and the solenoid 32 thus produce what may be called an electric motor.

In order to apply the motor thus formed to the'controloi the current flowing through an arc lamp, I provide the mechanism shown in Fig. 2, comprising a ratchet wheel 38, fixed to a tube 39 through the core of which passes a. rod 40. The tube 39 is slidably but nonrotatably mounted on the rod 40 by means of a keyway 41 (Fig. 5) in the rod into which passes a set screw key 42 set in a collar 43'and in the tube 39. The tube 39 is journaled in the casing 44 of the arc lamp. By this arrangement rotation either of the ratchet wheel 38 or the hand wheel 45 will cause rotation of the rod 40; and'this rotation, by means of the universal joint transmission rod 46, will cause rotation of the pinion 47, (Fig. 6), and will actuate the racks 48 and 49. Thus the carbons of the lamp 13 will approach or recede depending upon the direction of rotation of the rod 40. This latter operation is an ordinary method of manipulating arc lamps for projection purposes. To avoid confusion, other means for manipulating otherwise the carbons,'which are common to such machines, have been omitted from the drawing, on my invention.

One end of the lever 36 is pivoted to the tube 39; and the pawl 50 is backed by a spring 51, each of which is mounted on the as they have no bearing lever 36. When the lever is pulled downward by the solenoid, the pawl coacts with theteeth of the ratchet wheel 38 and causes the wheel to rotate, and thus, by means of the mechanism described, causes the carbons to approach. The brake spring 52 bearing on the ratchet wheel prevents backward rotation of the ratchet wheel when the free the spring 35.

A consideration of the mechanism described will show that any vibratory action of the armature 16 will cause a similar action of the arm 36, and this, by means of the pawl 50, will cause intermittent rotation of the ratchet wheel 38, and each movement of the ratchet wheel will cause the carbons of the are light to approach a slight distance. In order that the circuit of the coil 32 may not be too quickly'broken by the action of the coil 12, I design the coil 32 so that its inductivity is materially less than the inductivity of the coil 12. In this manner the solenoid '32 becomes sufliciently efiective before the coil 12 produces sufficient magnetism to break the contact 23.

In practice the operation of the arc-lamp current controller is as follows:

As the carbons of the lamp are consumed by use, the are connecting the two ends becomes longer, and the resistance increasing causes the current to decrease to such an extent that the series coil 11 is so weakened that the spring 20 pulls the armature 16 away from the core 15 and closes contact 23. Contact 30, however, remains closed as the armature 25 is so adjusted as to be supported by the coil with the weakened current. The closing of the contact 23 causes operation of the solenoid 32 and of the mechanism operated thereby, so that the carbons are caused to approach and the current flowing therethrough increases. Ordinarily one vibration of the arm 36 is sufficient to cause the current through the coil 11 to increase so as to hold open again the contact 23. If one vibration is insufficient the action will be repeated until sufficient current for the purpose flows.

In order that the distance between the carbons may be regulated manually when desired, the pawl 50 is normally maintained away from the teeth of the ratchet wheel by means of the screw stop 53. This stop is so set that when the arm 36 is elevated, as shown in Fig. 2, the pawl will be Pushed away from the teeth, but as soon as the arm 36 moves a slight distance downward, the pawl will coact with the teeth and move the ratchet wheel.

As is well known, when an arc lamp is lighted, it becomes necessary to bring the carbons into contact, and when this is done a current flows through the carbons much larger than is the case when the lamp is running normally. So that when the main line switch 31 is first closed, it becomes necessary to manually separate the carbons as soon as they come in contact. And in order to insure such manual operation of the carbons the armature 25 is provided. As is clearly indicated, when no current is flowing through the coils, as would be the case with the line switch open, contact 30 is opened and no current can flow through the solenoid 32. Hence, when the line switch is first closed to begin operations, no action of the solenoid will occur and it becomes necessary to manually rotate the wheel 45 to bring the carbons in contact, and they may then be instantly removed a suitable distance in the same manner. The apparatus is then in condition to operate automatically in a normal manner. The current then [lowing through coil 11 will close contact 30, and, if the carbons are thrown too far apart manually, the vibrating mechanism will return the carbons to the proper distance.

The tension of the spring 20 may be adjusted by means of the friction screw 55 so as to vary the current passing through the arc. And further adjusting meansto vary the closeness of regulation of the current are the stops 21,28, 54 and 56, which control the positions of the respective armatures and the arm 36.

Attention is called to the fact that although the mechanism described is for the purpose of moving the carbons more closely together as they are burned away, yet the normal distance between thecarbon ends may need to vary somewhat materially. For instance, as the resistance of the carbons decreases because of the shortening of the carbons by combustion, the current flowing through the series coil will reduce more slowly than if the resistance of the carbons remained constant, and as a consequence the action of the controller will be retarded and the carbon ends will gradually recede fromeach other to compensate for the decreased resistance; Or, if it should happen, as it frequently does, that the voltage of the line should increase so as to send, under similar conditions greater current through the are, there will be a similar effect; operation of the mechanism will cease and the carbon ends will thus recede by combustion and compensate for the greater voltage. Or, on the other hand the carbon ends will approach more closely, if the voltage on the line diminishes, because the current flowing through the series coil will diminish and it will not be sufficient to hold the armature 16 down.

It will thus be seen that constant minimum current through the lamp is maintained entirely irrespective of the resistance of the carbons or of the voltage of the line. As with an arc lamp the amount of current flowing (aside from the length of the arc) is what determines the brightness of the light, it is the current only which it is desired to maintain constant.

However, if for any reason there should be an increase in the current flowing through the arc, it is evident that no action of the controller would take place, for the reason that the armature 16 would be maintained downward and the operating circuit would thus be opened. So that the increased current would continue until the abnormal conditions were removed or until by combustion of the carbons, the resistance of the arc, had increased sufficiently to reduce the current to normal. So that action of the controller will occur only when the current decreases; and instead of being a constant current controller, a minimum limit to the current is fixed by the controller and it may be called a constant minimum current controller.

In order to limit the increase of current as well as the decrease, so as to maintain a constant maximum current as well as conparatus hereinabove described, making, however, such changes and adjustments as may be necessary to cause'theadditional appa- -forced upward by the spring 64.

ratus to operate under increased current and when operating to decreasethe current fiowing. In this instace, the vibrator which I use for the purpose of producing a constant maximum current and which may-be called a current decreasing vibrator, is shown in elevation in Fig. 7. In Fig. 8 I show the two solenoids operated by the respective vibrators acting upona compound ratchet wheel to produce the required regulation; and in Fig. 9 I show diagrammaticall the electrical connections of the combine apparatus regulating a flaming arc lamp The current decreasing vibrator 63 1s 1n general similar to the current increaslng vibrator herein described with certain exceptions: Coils 57 and 58 act differentially instead of cumulatively. The armature 59, as is indicated, is so arranged that the contact 60 is closed when the armature is pulled downward by the core 61 of the electromagnet. As -a consequence of these two changes, when the current through the series coil 57 becomes excessive, the contact is closed. Current then passes through coil 58 and this current, neutralizing the magnetic eflect of the series coil 57 weakens the core and thus-allows the armature to be This, breaking the contact 60, removes the efl-ect of coil 58 and the armature is again pulled downward by the coil 57 and this process is repeated until the current is reduced to the desired point.

The controllin apparatus used with both vibrators is simi ar to the apparatus hereinabove described with the addition of a ratchet wheel 65, fixed to the Wheel 38, with mechanism operated by solenoid 66 in the same manner as the mechanism is operated by solenoid 32. Solenoid 66, however, rotates the rod 40 in a-direction opposite to the action of solenoid 82, so that while solenoid 32 tends to move the carbons-closer together, solenoid 66 tends to movethem farther apart.

As a consequence of this double arran ement, when the current falls below t e minimum limit solenoid 32 operates to move the carbons together, and when the current 'rises above the maximum limit solenoid 66 operates to move thecarbons farther apart; and as a consequence the current is main- If desirai, by closer regulation of the various apparatus, such as proper designing, adjusting of the stops and of the springs 20 and 64:, the range in variation between the two limits may be so slight that the current is maintained substantially, if notactually constant. As has been explained, the armature 25 stant minimum current, I duplicate the ap',

is for the purpose of allowing the operating circuit to open when the main circuit is open, so that closing of the main line switch will not set in operation the solenoid and cause the carbons to come together, because in such a case there would be no automatic means of throwing the carbons apart. When the two vibrators are used, however,

inasmuch'as one vibrator is set in operation by an excessive current, it is evident that the armature 25 is notneeded, because the excessive current which follows. the coming in contact of the two carbon tips, will instantly start operations and separatethe carbons. For this reason the armature is not shown in the maximum current vibrator and if it is inserted on the minimum current vibrator, it may be closed by means of the stoIp 28 or otherwise. i

f the'apparatus is to be used as a minimum current controller switch opened; if to be used as a maximum current controllerswitch 69 only is opened and 68 closed; and if ,to be used without either vibrator switch 70 is opened. If all of these switches are opened the coil connections to both sides of the line are all opened.

Although I have described in detail this 1s to be understood that various modifica- 68 only is tions in this application may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention, and that the invention is capable of many other applications where constant current, or minimum or maximum current is to be obtained by means of any regulation.

It is further evident that the same apparatus is applicable to voltage regulators. Inasmuch as the voltage drop through conductors determines the current flowing therethrough, regulation of the current flow- I ing through the conductors by any means will necessarily regulatethe voltage drop therethrough.

I claim as my invention:

1. In apparatus of the class described, a magnetic core, two magnetizing coils of high resistance and low resistance, respectively, mounted on said core, an electric circuit in which said low-resistance coil is continuously connected in series, and a circuit opener controlled by the magnetic action of said core for intermittently connecting said high resistance coil "in shunt with said circuit.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a magnetic core, two magnetizing coils of high resistance and low resistance, respectively, mounted. on said core, an electric circuit in which said low resistance coil is continuously connected in series, a circuit opener controlled by the magnetic action of said core for intermittently resistance coil in shunt with said circuit, and

connecting said high a second connecting device operated by said core for preventing the forming of a connection through said high resistance coil until a circuit has been established through said series coil.

3. In apparatus of the class described, a ma etic core, a low resistance coil of a relative y small number of turns wound on said core, an armature mounted adjacent one end of said core, a second armature mounted adjacent the other end of said core, a circuit in which said low resistance coil is adapted to be permanently connected in series, a switch operated by one of said armatures in responseto a change in the magnetic field of said core for intermittently connecting said high resistance coil in shunt with said circuit, and a second switch controlled by the other armature for preventing the formation of a circuit through said high resistance coil until a circuit has been established through said low resistance coil.

4. In apparatus of the class described, a magnetic core, a low resistance coil of a relatively small number of turns wound on said core, an armature mounted adjacent one end of said core, a second armature mounted adjacent the other end of said core, a circuit in which said low resistance coil is adapted to be permanently connected in series, a switch operated by one of said armatures in response to a change in the magnetic field of said core for intermittently connecting said high resistance coil in shunt with said circuit, a second switch controlled by the other armature for preventin the formation of a circuit through said h resistance coil until a circuit has been established through said low resistance coil, and means carried by said armatures for regulating the operation, of said switches.

5. In apparatus of the class described, a magnetic core, two coils of high resistance and low resistance, respectively, wound u on said core, an armature pivotally moun at one end of said core and arranged to be render the corresponding coi attracted thereby, a circuit in which said low resistance coil is permanently connected, a switch controlled by the movement of said armature in response to a change in the field strength of said core, and a shunt circuit connected in series with said contacts for intermittently connecting said high resistance coil in said circuit in which said low resistance coil is connected.

6. In apparatus of the class described, a single magnetic circuit comprising two armatures, two inductive coils for energizing said magnetic circuit, an electric circuit for each of said coils, and two switch devices each operable by one of said armatures, both of said switch devices being located in one of said electric circuits to control the current to the corresponding coil, the flow of current to said coil being prevented when either of said switch devices is open.

7. In apparatus of the class described, a pair of magnetizing coils, a movable magnetic member arranged to be acted upon by the joint field of said coils, an electric circuit for each of said coils, a switch actuated by said movable member for controlling the circuit of one of said coils, the circuit of the other coil being continuously closed durin the operation of the apparatus, said switc being normally open but bein closed to operative when said magnetizable member is released by the magnetic field of the other coil, and a second automatic switch in the circuit with said first-named switch and the corres 0nding coil, said second-named switch eing normal] closed when said other coil is operative lint being arranged to open automaticall when the circuit through said other coil is open.

In testimon whereof I aifix my signature in presence 0 two witnesses.

KENNETH M. WALLEY.

Witnesses:

ERNEST J. ANDREWS, Gnonon L. Gunman. 

